Last week, Benicia Unified School District Superintendent Charles Young announced Leslie Beatson, the principal of Matthew Turner Elementary School, as the district’s new assistant superintendent of education services. She will be succeeding Marie Morgan, who will start a new job as superintendent of Walnut Creek School District in July.

Beatson has been the principal of Matthew Turner since 2012 when she was hired as the successor to Barbara Sanders. However, her career in education stretches back 26 years. She got her start in New England where she earned her undergraduate degree in remedial reading and language arts from Central Connecticut State University. Afterwards, she received her doctorate in educational leadership and curriculum from the University of Vermont. She later taught at Trinity College in Vermont and spent 11 years as a reading specialist and principal at the Vermont middle school Peoples Academy. Beatson moved to the Bay Area in 2009 where she was the principal of Neil Cummins Elementary School in Corte Madera. She was hired as the principal of Matthew Turner Elementary in 2012, where she was named by the district as Administrator of the Year in 2015.

Additionally, Beatson is married to Benicia High School dean of students and social science teacher Stacy Starkweather. Both their children attend BUSD schools.

“We enthusiastically welcome Dr. Leslie Beatson as the new assistant superintendent of educational services, knowing she will be an outstanding visionary leader,” Young said in a statement.

Beatson could not be reached for comment.

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